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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23639968">Two steps on the water</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mis_Shapes/pseuds/Mis_Shapes'>Mis_Shapes</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, British folklore, F/M, Fae &amp; Fairies, Fair amount of influence from Holly Black's Tithe, I am unsure as to how to tag this, Magic, Minor Joffrey Baratheon/Sansa Stark, Rain, Ramsay Bolton is His Own Warning, Scotland, Sea, childhood imaginary friends, lochs, other characters to make appearances along the way</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 20:33:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,071</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23639968</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mis_Shapes/pseuds/Mis_Shapes</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Looking down at the dark surface under her fingertips, Sansa imagined that she could see the shapes of creatures hidden in the murky depths. Jeyne had been right to persuade her to come, she thought fleetingly. She itched to plunge in herself, driven by a strange compulsion her mind fought against. She had swum in these waters in the summer months at the shallow ridges along the coast and that had been quite enough.</i>
</p><p>Driven by the need to find inspiration, Jeyne convinces Sansa to return to the Stark's Scottish holiday home where Sansa's childhood make-believe might just be more real than she'd have liked. When Jeyne goes missing Sansa is forced to ask old friends for help and make some new alliances.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jeyne Poole &amp; Sansa Stark, Theon Greyjoy/Sansa Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Two steps on the water</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi folks, this was originally written for Halloween so expect references. It also uses a skin. I'm hoping my back up works if you haven't got skins turned on. Let me know if something isn't working properly. Next chapter is mostly written, just needs editing, so will post soon.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sansa had been hesitant to return to the old ancestral home the Stark’s had often used for, what were usually cold and wet, holidays on the west coast of Scotland. But when it had been offered to her and Jeyne to get away from it all and concentrate on work she had to admit that the plan did make a lot of sense. A remote place far away from the distractions of her normal city life and with all the toted benefits of nature might do her good. Jeyne insisted that the countryside would bring them nothing but inspiration in each and every direction. It was worth a shot, she supposed. The gods knew she didn’t get much inspiration these days.</p><p>Her fingers drummed against the steering wheel as Jeyne unfolded the large map blocking Sansa’s view of her, and occasionally that through the windscreen. It was a good job they’d pulled over while they tried to work out just where exactly they were. Even the fog lights beaming did little to illuminate their way, a dense wall surrounded them on all sides. Both their phones had lost signal and after a wrong turn, the navigation system was failing to reconnect and find the intended route. This was exactly the kind of thing she had dreaded. Sure, her parents had insisted the house now had WiFi, but what about when they tried to go literally anywhere else to find this unknown muse Jeyne sought.</p><p>A groan escaped Jeyne as she struggled, not able to make head nor tail of the thing. She reached up and turned on the small light and peered closer to the map.</p><p>Sansa chewed her lip, trying to resist the urge to take over, and switched on the hazards with a quick glance in the rearview window. She couldn’t help but feel like they were being watched through the low clouds. But anyone would be mad to be walking in this weather and they hadn’t seen another car in miles. Where was the cool crisp October she had longed for? </p><p>“Oh!” Jeyne exclaimed optimistically and pointed at a point on the map, glittery fingernail glinting in the light. “I think we’re here. Look, I’m sure we crossed this bridge a hundred or so metres ago.”</p><p>They both instinctively turned to look left through the passenger side window and back to the map again. Sansa could feel the blood drain from her face. Shortly beyond the beginnings of the fog, the maps closely bunched contour lines and markings indicated, the land dropped sharply over rocks to the loch below. A small deviation from the narrow road and they’d have plummeted to their deaths. She’d always thought as long as she couldn’t see that she was at a height she’d be fine. Now she wasn’t so sure.</p><p>“So… anyway…,” Jeyne pressed forwards, hoping that if she ignored her friend's phobia maybe it would disappear or she’d forget about it presumably. “If we carry on this way, we should pass a pub - the Black Horse - to our right, then it’s the second right, first left. That would bring us here,” she indicated to the beginning of a track and followed it up to its end, “and the house.”</p><p>Deep breath. They were almost there, she could do this. “Great,” she murmured, the word sounding a little sarcastic even to her own ears, though she hadn’t intended it be. At least they didn’t need to make a U-turn. Switching off the now unnecessary lights inside the car, she pushed Jeyne’s hand holding the map gently to move it further out of her vision and turned the ignition. “Let’s go!” She said with forced cheer.</p><p>She’d thought the road had been eerie, but the driveway was on a whole other level. Leant in her seat like a couple of extra inches might matter to the visibility, she kept the car creeping along. Jeyne, beside her, was strangely quiet. If memory served her right the house couldn’t be too far away now.</p><p>“I’m going to need a glass of that wine when we get in.”</p><p>“I think you’ve earnt it,” Jeyne agreed. There had been times on this journey north that Sansa had considered it was the type of trip that might make or break some friendships, but she felt secure in the presence of long-serving Jeyne. They might have their moments and squabbles but they could never stay cross at each other for very long.</p><p>Jeyne was the only person who had believed her about Gneiss and Rowan. And, unlike her family who never let her live it down, she hadn’t yet teased her about the possibility of meeting her imaginary friends once again. When they had both been 8, Sansa had tried to introduce Jeyne to her friends, she knew immediately that Jeyne couldn’t see anyone there, but she smiled as though she could and introduced herself politely. As the years passed Jeyne lost her faith and understandably became tired of pretending and following Sansa around on adventures sparked by something she couldn’t understand. It was this, Sansa thought, that led to her coming out of her land of fantasy. Her friends were something people liked to bring up at every notable point in her career - ‘well, you know, Sansa has always had a very vivid imagination…’</p><p>Jeyne’s scream brought her back from her thoughts as a dark shape appeared in the headlights.</p><p>Clutching her chest, Sansa sat back in her seat as she got over the shock. “A deer, Jeyne, just a deer.’ Thank god she was driving slowly. </p><p>Despite its brush with death, the Stag stayed, unshifting as it looked into the car, its antlers looming majestically.</p><p>Jeyne and Sansa shared a glance before both simultaneously reaching to unbuckle their seatbelts. “Do you think it’s hurt?” Jeyne asked with wide brown eyes, her concern for the beast's health outweighing her fright. </p><p>“No…” Sansa shook her head. Peering out through the glass with growing confusion, she felt for the door handle, ready to get out.</p><p>Although unstartled by the door opening, the animal took its cue to leave and decided to be on its way. They watched it slink off until it disappeared into the grey. Being as tense as they both had been, the ordeal pushed them into hysteria. Jeyne, wiping tears from her eyes, laughed, “like one of those idiot cats in the road.”</p><p>Less than a minute later and they’d finally made it. The great gothic structure appeared through the gloom. They dragged suitcases up the dark stone steps leading up to the double doors surrounded by an imposing pediment. Sansa could remember every element of what the place looked like, she had spent much of her time imagining the turrets and crenellations were those of a castle. To say she had been princess obsessed as a girl would be an understatement.</p><p>Now for that wine.</p><p>-</p><p>The sunrise filtered through the net curtains of Sansa’s bedroom and woke her as it reached the bed. She groaned, rolling over and pulling the pink cushion over her head, refusing to greet the day just yet. Her muscles protested the movement, having been subjected to the pitiful state of the mattress beneath her. A spring dug into her shoulder in her new position, pushing her to reevaluate. Grumbling, she pushed herself to sit up in the creaky bed and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.</p><p>Dread filled her as she looked at the now fully charged phone sat on the bedside table and thought of what she might find after almost a full day with no signal yesterday. The table, covered in a white gloss, still had lines of coloured nail varnish she had painted on to test. Nothing much had changed about her room in the past 10 years. She’d have appreciated a new bed, but then she rarely came anymore. </p><p>Hesitantly, she turned on the phone and waited for the notifications.</p><p>3 Missed Calls.</p><p>1 nagging email.</p><p>And many messages.</p>
<p></p><div class="phone">
  <p class="messagebody">
<span class="header">Joff</span><br/>
<br/>
<span class="time"><b>Yesterday</b> 3:15 PM</span><br/>
<span class="text">I hope you’re not actually going through with this</span><br/>
<br/>
<span class="time"><b>Yesterday</b> 5:37 PM</span><br/>
<span class="text">Sans</span><br/>
<br/>
<span class="time"><b>Yesterday</b> 10:07 PM</span><br/>
<span class="text">I can’t believe you</span><br/>
<br/>
<span class="time"><b>Today</b> 01:43 AM</span><br/>
<span class="text">CALL ME</span><br/>
<br/>
<span class="readreceipt"><b>Read</b> 8:46 AM</span>
</p>
</div><div class="phone">
  <p class="messagebody">
<span class="header">Starklings</span><br/>
<br/>
<span class="grouptext">Robb</span><br/>
<span class="text">Mum says you’ve gone, I’m glad Jeyne talked some sense into you. Say hi to her for me.</span><br/>
<span class="grouptext">Arya</span><br/>
<span class="text">Say hi to… Oak??? From me</span><br/>
<span class="grouptext">Bran</span><br/>
<span class="text">ARYA!</span><br/>
<span class="grouptext">Bran</span><br/>
<span class="text">How could you get the name wrong? ;)</span><br/>
<span class="grouptext">Arya</span><br/>
<span class="text">Hehe, sorry.</span><br/>
<span class="grouptext">Arya</span><br/>
<span class="text">Did you tell him to fuck off yet?</span><br/>
<span class="grouptext">Jon</span><br/>
<span class="text">who is she telling to fuck off?</span><br/>
<span class="grouptext">Arya</span><br/>
<span class="text">Oops</span><br/>
<span class="grouptext">Arya</span><br/>
<span class="text">Noone</span><br/>
<span class="grouptext">Robb</span><br/>
<span class="text">...Arya?</span><br/>
<span class="grouptext">Jon</span><br/>
<span class="text">Is it that Lannister cunt? What’s he done now?</span><br/>
<span class="grouptext">Rickon</span><br/>
<span class="text">Whoa! The big swears</span><br/>
<span class="grouptext">Robb</span><br/>
<span class="text">Arya, spill.</span><br/>
<span class="readreceipt"><b>Read</b> 8:48 AM</span>
</p>
</div><p>Downstairs, Jeyne was already up and about making the most out of the day. She sang along to the radio while she broke eggs into a bowl and whisked. A pot of tea sat in the centre of the square kitchen table with a pair of matching floral china cups. She smiled and gave a cheery wave when she heard Sansa appear. “Ah! You’re awake, I thought I might actually have to wake you. You must have been tired to sleep longer than me!” It was unusual, Sansa had to admit. “Look what I found!” Jeyne nodded her head towards the items of vintage crockery on the table. “Just like old times.”</p><p>Sansa found herself laughing despite the bad mood brought on by the sleep and her rude awakening to find the messages. “Wonderful, as long it's really tea and not grass and petals,” she said thinking back to the excessive amount of tea parties the pair of them held. “I need the caffeine this morning.”</p><p>“I thought that might be the case,” Jeyne said softly, pouring tea out into the cup with yellow roses for Sansa.</p><p>In one of her daydreams, Sansa had imagined breaking the cup and being distraught and the idea of her mum finding out. Gneiss had gingerly taken the pieces into his knobbly hands and before she had known it she was celebrating it being whole once more. “It is still broken,” he had warned her.</p><p>Young and with a sunny disposition, small Sansa had smiled and marvelled at the thing. It didn’t look broken, nor did it behave like it was. From that point on it had been her favourite. </p><p>“So, what did you want to do today? I think we should definitely go down to the loch, of course. I’ve missed this place. Do your family still have the boats?”</p><p>“Mmmm,” Sansa murmured thoughtfully, thinking to the photos Rickon had been sending lately. “I wouldn’t trust us to use the sail though… And we’ll need to get some more food at some point too. But I don’t have the energy this morning, so let's have a pub lunch, it feels like one of those days.”</p><p>The weather was a stark difference from what it had been the night before and the pair decided to walk down to the water and the boathouse on the shores. Loaded with flasks of tea, snacks, and ample amounts of stationary, Sansa and Jeyne launched off in the small cream and green rowboat, rowing until they sat midway between the north and south shore. Sansa inhaled the smell of brine, trailing her hand through the small waves. Though mostly seawater, the inlet was narrow and sheltered with only a small opening, keeping its waters relatively calm.</p><p>Jeyne hunched over a drawing pad, already sketching the contours of the hillside behind Sansa. She’d tied her hair up in a messy bun but locks still escaped in the harsh coastal breeze. </p><p>Looking down at the dark surface under her fingertips, Sansa imagined that she could see the shapes of creatures hidden in the murky depths. Jeyne had been right to persuade her to come, she thought fleetingly. She itched to plunge in herself, driven by a strange compulsion her mind fought against. She had swum in these waters in the summer months at the shallow ridges along the coast and that had been quite enough. </p><p>When Sansa returned her attention, Jeyne was watching her knowingly with her pencil now idle atop the drawing which was now complete with her lounging in the boat, gazing overboard. She’d lost herself.</p><p>“What were you thinking about?” Jeyne asked, intrigued. “I didn’t want to disturb you.”</p><p>Sansa smiled and shook her head, stretching out. “Nothing really, just the water. I’d forgotten how it made me feel. There’s so much there. It makes you think, doesn’t it? It's so close and yet we will never truly discover all it has to offer. You can see why people still believe in the Loch Ness Monster, even now.”</p><p>-</p><p>The Black Horse Inn was very much a standard old pub. It's red and gold swirling pattern carpets had a slight crunch to them that was in keeping with the smell of stale beer that affronted Sansa’s nostrils. But it was warm and cosy and promised traditional pub grub. She and Jeyne settled a table by the fire and slid onto the cushioned bench at the wall. </p><p>A plump woman approached them with a warm smile and handed over a couple of laminated menus. “Here you go, loves. The roast today is gammon, and the soup is squash, the desert specials are all cakes today, they’re all on the blackboard over there.” She pointed over by the bar at which a black-haired man sat with his back to them.</p><p>“Thank you,” they both told her politely.</p><p>“Order at the bar when you’re ready.”</p><p>A horse of the same design as the pictorial pub sign hanging outside was printed onto the front of the menu. Its front half emerged from waves, eyes filled with fury. She had thought from a distance that its mane hung around it but, on closer inspection, the animal was covered in seaweed. Jeyne didn’t seem half as interested in it and had quickly decided on the soup.</p><p>Sansa took the money Jeyne offered out to her and left the table to order them both food. Leant against the dark smooth wood as she waited, she felt the eyes of the stranger boring into her until she buckled to the temptation to look. Had she been with Joffrey she’d never have heard the last of it even acknowledging his presence. A face, startlingly handsome looked back at her with harsh scrutiny, strange pale eyes jarring against olive skin.</p><p>Feeling as if she was expected to speak, Sansa struggled to find any words and was drawn into watching the swing of a small red stone swinging below the man's ear. He grinned widely at her, reaching to feel her hand on the bar. The clammy touch of his fingers jolted her back to her senses and caused her to take a step back in fright.</p><p>“Dear?” The landlady asked. “Are you wanting food?”</p><p>Sansa snatched her eyes away from him and turned to her, peculiarly shaken. “Yes, please.” </p><p>After ordering them both the soup, Sansa sat back beside Jeyne, picking anxiously at chipped nail varnish as they waited for the food. Jeyne chatted away, seemingly oblivious to the creep who would glance over his shoulder every now and again to get a look at them. Until Sansa spilt food down herself that was.</p><p>Jeynes brows furrowed as she watched her friend with concern. “What’s wrong?”</p><p>“Guy at the bar,” said Sansa, staring down into the orange bowl, “he was a bit odd when I was over there before.”</p><p>“Oh. He does look a little scary. I wonder what happened.”</p><p>What happened? Sansa looked up from her food to find Jeyne watching a man refilling the shelves of glasses behind the counter. Lank hair fell over his burn covered cheek, highlighting rather than concealing the area which she suspected he had hoped to hide. Aside from the scaring he was well weathered and his lips pressed tight as he worked.</p><p>The man there previously had vanished without a trace despite Sansa’s full view of the only door in and out of the pub. Unless of course, he was staying there.</p><p>She chose to say nothing and ate quietly. When finished, she made her excuses, feigning sickness, and left Jeyne to continue her adventures by herself. Sansa no longer had the energy to explore further, feeling drained since the encounter. With Jeyne’s promises that she would be fine alone, Sansa trekked back up the hill to the empty house, very much tempted to have a nap while she was out despite knowing this wouldn’t lead to decent sleep that night. She resolved to wait it out until nighttime. Perhaps she would try sleeping in another of the rooms.</p><p>Choosing to read instead, Sansa trailed her finger along the spines of the books sat on the shelf in the hallway, skimming over folk and fairy tales, travel guides, and recipe books until she found what she was looking for, a collection of photographs featuring the local landscape. Sansa settled down onto the sofa under a blanket to browse through the images. The living room was hard floored with an array of rugs strewn across it, a mismatch of chairs filled the space in which the fireplace was the dominant feature. It called to her, begging to be lit despite the early date of the calendar, yet she resisted out of tiredness if nothing else. </p><p>The book showed her great expanses of water, both the loch and sea, beautiful hilltops and woodland, and the monuments humans had built; marking, celebrating, and combatting nature. One, in particular, drew her in, a small stone circle not known to her, surrounded by wonderfully purple heather, the grass blowing in the gentle summer breeze. In her mind’s eye, Sansa was there, she could hear the songs of the birds and feel the sensation of a ladybird crawl against her bare skin, the way its wings fluttered against her as it took off. The serene image clashed with the next page of the book. There, printed in black and white, was a photograph of an island from the centre of the loch surrounded by mist, the solitary Scots Pine at its heart standing against the elements. The caption below told her that the mound was artificial, a crannog in fact, contemporary to the stones. The knowledge made her skin prickle with no knowledge as to why.</p><p>The clink of a key turning in the front door’s lock made her almost jump out of her skin.</p><p>“Sansa!” Jeyne shouted joyfully as she came into the room, her cheeks pink as she hurried with her coat. “I met <i>thee</i> most beautiful man I ever saw.”</p><p>Struggling for something to say, Sansa closed the book and set it down on the sofa’s arm. </p><p>“Honestly, and he was so interesting too. He knows practically everything there is to know about the local history.” Jeyne frowned a little at the lack of Sansa’s interest. “He said he’d be up for meeting if you wanted to… you could tell Lysa,” she said optimistically. “You know she thinks more of knowledge gathering than well… ‘feeling’.”</p><p>This was true. “I’ll think about it,” Sansa conceded finally.</p><p>-</p><p>The following day found Sansa awake long before Jeyne and sat in front of her laptop at the kitchen table. She had slept a whole heap better in the room Robb and Jon had once shared. As Robb still came here regularly his bed was decent and made for an adult. It was also on the opposite side of the house which also happened to be darker in the mornings. She knew she was going to be disturbed eventually in the house’s focal point, but she was someone who enjoyed the presence of others, and Jeyne could be trusted to sense when she needed to be quiet.</p><p>Jeyne stretched and yawned as she entered the room, shuddering a little when her bare feet touched the cold tiling that made up the floor. Her hair was pulled into a messy bun on the top of her head and she was still dressed in white pyjamas covered in little pink flowers. Silently, she filled the kettle and dumped what was maybe one too many tea bags into the pot and then leant back against the counter to watch as Sansa typed away. A smug look spread across her face, but she managed not to comment.</p><p>“I know I know…” Sansa mumbled, staring into the screen but feeling Jeyne’s eyes on her. She reached over and tugged her friend to her, nestling into Jeyne’s side. Jeyne’s hands played with her hair, filling her with affectionate warmth. “Thank you.”</p><p>Jeyne said nothing but leant over to kiss her on the top of her head, exaggerating a ‘mwah’, and left to fetch them both tea.</p><p>The morning passed quickly and it was soon time to leave for the planned meeting. Jeyne appeared to have already come to terms with Sansa’s decision before she’d even reached it. She needed to stay in and let the words flow whilst they still did. She’d have to abandon them. Truth be told, she suspected Jeyne was more than happy to have more time alone with this man.</p><p>“You will be back for dinner, won’t you?”</p><p>Jeyne nodded, pulling on purple polka dot wellies. The rain had started up outside and dark grey clouds covered the sky. It wouldn’t be stopping any time soon. “Yep, don’t worry about cooking if you are stuck in a groove, but make sure to eat lunch. I know what you’re like.”</p><p>Sansa smiled. Guilty as charged, and as the day went on Jeyne’s words proved truer than ever. She was suddenly struck with hunger and the sky outside was now darker than it had any right to be during the day. Time had rushed by and the time on the oven’s clock now read 18:23. Confused yet hopeful, Sansa checked her phone for word from Jeyne with no luck and each and every call went straight to voicemail.</p><p>Sansa’s stomach sank and her mind flooded with guilt. How could she have let Jeyne meet with a stranger alone? No, they had been planning to meet in a public place. Surely that was fine.</p><p>Despite trying to reason with herself, Sansa found herself dressing to combat the elements, pushing her hands through the arms of her mother’s long waterproof coat and tugging on one of Jon’s old beanies. Her heart raced as she walked down the long driveway, pulling the hood of the coat forwards in a vain attempt to keep the rain from her face. </p><p>She resembled a drowned rat by the time she made it to the inn. Perhaps Jeyne had simply decided to hide from the rain and her phone had run out of battery. But then why would she not have asked to use someone else's? That didn’t sound like Jeyne.</p><p>“Excuse me?” She called the landlady. “Have you seen my friend I was in here with yesterday.”</p><p>“Oh, child, you look like you’ve been ___, get sat in front of that fire.”</p><p>“Have you seen her?”</p><p>“Yes,” she began, and Sansa allowed herself a sigh of relief. “She left mid-afternoon with that young gentleman she was with.”</p><p>Sansa’s heart pounded. “Do you know where?”</p><p>“No, sorry lovey.”</p><p>“What does he look like?” She asked fearfully, preempting the answer.</p><p>“Hmmmmm. Dark-haired, very handsome too, wasn’t he, Sandor?”</p><p>The man working behind the bar yesterday was there again and shot a scowl at the pair of them.</p><p>“You get sat down, I’ll get you a drink, there’s no point looking in this weather. Can’t see more than a couple of feet.”</p><p>“But-” Sansa began, her eyes catching on the menu’s horse once more. “This horse…”</p><p>The woman chuckled. “Folk are still very superstitious around here, and it draws in customers you know. Our own little loch monster. Oh and so many will tell you they’ve seen it, won’t they?” She addressed Sandor once more who made something like a growl in return. “Overactive imaginations if you ask me.”</p><p>Overactive imaginations indeed.</p><p>Eventually, Myranda, it turned out her name was, tottered off to help a guest with a broken TV, leaving Sansa sat staring into her drink and warming her hands against the ceramic.</p><p>“Don’t get any funny ideas,” Sandor told her without so much as a glance over as he collected pint glasses </p><p>“Funny ideas?”</p><p>“Don’t get involved in things you don’t understand.”</p><p>“I don’t-” Sansa began.</p><p>“Keep it that way,” he grumbled.</p><p>-</p><p>Sansa’s hands trembled when she went back to the bookcase with a renewed purpose. Her fingers, numb from the cold outside, fumbled at the largest of the folktale books and pulled it from the shelf. She flicked through impatiently until coming at last to the page she was looking for. The Kelpie. Her eyes skimmed the text, knowing that she was only looking for confirmation of what she already knew… <i>demon… shapeshifter… human guise</i>. It wasn’t enough, she sought something more, something she knew had to be here. What was it they said about instinct? That it was simply when the brain failed to make connections quickly or accurately enough. And instinct told her she knew. Local Tales the cover of a much smaller book told her. There. There it was with the same illustration as that at the inn and on the opposite page a heart-stopping portrayal of its human form. <i>Him.</i> </p><p>Without so much as a second thought, Sansa clung to the book and ran to the back door of the house and flung it wide open, stepping out into the rain.</p><p>“Gneiss,” she yelled. “Rowan!” The cold rain mixed with hot tears on her cheek.”GNEISS! I need you. Come to me.” Something in the corner of her eye made her turn back towards the door. There, already inside the house, and looking somewhat perplexed, were her childhood friends. They each took a step back to the side, waiting silently for her to go back inside. Sansa’s mind told her she was delusional, she’d finally cracked. They weren’t there, none of this was real.</p><p>Rowan and Gneiss whispered behind her back as she padded, dazed, back through to the kitchen, collecting the books on the way.</p><p>“Miss?” Rowan asked finally, with a nervous glance over to Gneiss, a flutter of her wings lifted her up from the floor. “Can you really see us?”</p><p>Gneiss scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “Don’t be ridiculous, she hasn’t so much as glanced at us over the past decade.”</p><p>Sansa laid the books out on the table and looked directly at them both in turn. “He took Jeyne,” she accused, certain of her words.</p><p>“Miss…” Rowan whispered, peering at the page, “you don’t know that.”</p><p>“Help me, how do I get her back?”</p><p>“I would advise against getting involved in this, miss,” Gneiss told her in much the same manner as that man, Sandor, in the pub. Involved in this. </p><p>“I’m already involved,” Sansa snapped.</p><p>“We don’t know how…” Rowan told her apologetically, still a little confused. “No one's ever claimed back one of his toys.”</p><p>“Jeyne is not a toy,” cried Sansa, horrified. “Someone must know something. Who will know?”</p><p>They shared a look before shrugging in unison.</p><p>Sansa pulled her laptop over and sat back down at the table, searching for something, anything that might help. One particular myth drew of the sea horse drew her in, one with an outcome close to what she desired. One in which the demon took a bride in exchange for other lives.</p><p>“How do I summon him?”</p><p>“Summon him, miss?”</p><p>Despite Gneiss and Rowan’s denial that a summoning would be possible, and their consistent hassling of her to stop this train of thought, Sansa found herself deep into research on the internet. The struggle was that the vast majority of these sources had some variations on setting up an altar and supplying some items the bright fairy tiptoeing and covered in flowers in the images alongside might like. Sweet things, acorns, pretty leaves and the like. Sansa doubted very much that that would cut it for a demon. Eventually, she came across the works of a woman studying ancient texts, the faeries in these were not the same cheeky and playful creatures. After making a coffee, she settled into reading the entire contents of Mya Stone’s academia page.</p><p>As dawn approached, Sansa made her way down to the water’s edge with renewed purpose. This time she cut through the fields, climbing over stiles and jumping walls when necessary, her hand feeling for her pocket knife as she worried it might fall. Her jeans clung to her, soaking wet. There was little point in wearing a raincoat now, the water had begun to soak through and it wicked up her legs from the grass.</p><p>Going on a mix of instinct and what she had read, at the edge of the wooden platform jutting out onto the lake, Sansa stood hesitantly. Pulling the wellies from her feet and the coat from her shoulders, which she then set straight, she lifted her chin and resolutely set her jaw. With a deep breath, she took the knife and winced as she cut into her palm. She needed to do this, for Jeyne’s sake, but the prospect was still terrifying. Slowly, she held out her hand over the end of the wooden planks and allowed the blood welling against her skin to drip into the dark waves. Kelpies didn’t want acorns and sweet treats.</p><p>“Kelpie, Lord of the Deep, I, Sansa Stark, request your audience,” she called down past the ripples. Anticlimactically, nothing happened, at least a first. Sansa sunk onto her knees and shouted with all the authority she could muster, “Kelpie! I summon thee, hear me now.”</p><p>The waves stirred and Sansa scrambled to her feet. This was really happening. She couldn’t believe this was happening. Every bone in her body longed to run in the opposite direction. When the head of a black horse surfaced, Sansa gripped harder at the handle of the knife, knowing full well it wouldn’t be of any use. The beast appeared to ignore her at first, breaking through the water until it stood with just its legs in the water, surrounded by weeds. </p><p>“Kelpie, I have a proposition to make.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>As always, comments are helpful. I hope everything makes sense!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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